Good 'Ole Cajun Country

In recent light of the Mississippi River flood, I thought it was appropriate to write about Beau's and I's weekend trip into Cajun Country for Easter.  

On Good Friday Beau, our doggies, and I made the six and a half hour drive to Lakes Charles, LA.  We stayed at Brett’s house (Beau's brother who's stationed there for the CG), which he fixed up SO nicely.  The upgraded kitchen was sure my favorite!  While we were there we visited with Beau’s mom and Brett showed us the grand old tour around southwestern LA.   

Our Saturday kicked off with some great southern BBQ!  Well actually, it kicked off with Khloe eating a chocolate chip cookie laying on the side of the road.  

Here's a pic of Miss Khloe taken around the beginning of 2011 for those of you who have yet to meet her!

I was taking the dogs on a morning walk and of course Khloe "the fatty" eats anything she can find on the side of the road.  I nearly had a heart attack and was terrified she’d just drop dead in the middle of the walk.  Thankfully she’s probably eaten everything possible and her stomach can process it!  Oh Khloe Khloe Khloe haha.  I love her!

Anyways, back to BBQ, Brett brought us to one of his favorite places, Dan’s BBQ, and I took his advice and ordered a loaded potato with brisket on top.  Mmmmmm!  The potato alone was probably the size of small butternut sqush and stuffed inside was bacon, chives, sour cream, cheese… and the brisket was so delicious!  Thankfully Beau was there to help me finish it off alone I have to admit I did quite a good job myself haha.  I think I might make this easy meal at home if we’re feeling like being fatties!

Later Saturday we visited the Cameron Prairie Refuge where saw a few alligators!  Unfortunately it was really windy so all the gators stayed in the water, but we saw a baby one that was on the grassy bank sunning itself.  It was quite a sight to see.  Next time I hope to see much bigger ones… but I’m sure I’ll be a little scared and Beau will get a kick out of that.

Alligator from Cameron Prairie: http://www.wildherps.com/images/herps/standard/10040803PD_alligator.jpg

Southern Louisiana is a pretty place…there are marshes and bayous and swamps everywhere.  It's crazy to think that this whole area is now underwater.  While driving along the highway one will see little shacks among the banks, river houses, and small boats: home of the "Swamp People."  No wonder LA is the crawfish capital- there’s so much water!  Beau and I decided, though, that unless someone is a complete outdoors person, there really isn’t too much else to do in southern LA.

Saturday night we enjoyed a delicious dinner Beau’s mom cooked… fresh salad, corn, steak, and crab.  Boy was it a feast! And before we left on Sunday, we brought all three dogs to a local dog park.  Finally Bama came out of her shell (she was terrified of Pepper, Brett’s 90 pound dog, the entire weekend!) and Khloe had a blast climbing on the doggie ramps and tunnels!  I need to find an adorable dog park close to us back home.

It was a short but sweet week!  Y'all should take a trip down into Cajun country and have some good eats!